FOURTH OF JULY MYSTERIES//JULY 4 CRIME FICTION

The Fourth of July (Independence Day) used to be one of my favorite holidays, maybe because I was born in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our nation. Despite what's happening in the U.S. under this administration, I decided to post my Fourth of July Crime Fiction list. Maybe in spite of it. 250 years is a big deal! I don't want to lose sight of and the meaning of the Flag, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. Even if you're not celebrating Independence Day, you can celebrate this great group of mysteries that take place on the holiday! 

And don't miss my upcoming Summertime Mysteries List, Summer Sleuthing: Lazy, Hazy, Murderous Days of Summer! Be sure and check back. 

As always, let me know if I've missed any titles. This is an updated list.

Fourth of July Mysteries

The Fourth of July Wake by Harold Adams
Sweet Tea and Secrets by Joy Avon
Murder on Parade by Donald Bain (as Jessica Fletcher) 
Home of the Brave by Donna Ball
Bomb Pop Threat by Christy Barritt 
Hair of the Dog by Laurien Berenson 
Murder by Fireworks by Susan Bernhardt
Jealousy Filled Donuts by Ginger Bolton
Plot Boiler by Ali Brandon 
The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun
Rockets' Red Glare by Lynn Cahoon
A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon

The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up by JoAnna Carl

Gone with the Whisker by Laurie Cass
Dead on the 4th of July by Meg Chittenden
Someone to Watch Over Me by Jill Churchill
Independence Day by Anne-Marie Clark
Twanged by Carol Higgins Clark
Independene Day by Ben Coes

Oh Say Can You Fudge by Nancy Coco

Star Tangled Murder by Nancy J. Cohen
BlackBuried Pie by Lyndsey Cole
Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle
The Carousel of Death by Elisabeth Crabtree
A Catered Fourth of July by Isis Crawford
Murder on the 4th of July by P. Creeden
Red, White, and Blue Murder by Bill Crider
Firework Fiasco; Fireworks in Paradise by Kathi Daley

Framed and Frosted by Kim Davis
Guilty as Charred by Devon Delaney
Blood Red, White and Blue by Kathleen Delaney
Dead on the Fourth of July by R. E. Derouin
Four Dog's Sake by Lia Farrell
Blackberry Burial by Sharon Farrow
One Fete in the Grave by Vickie Fee
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Independence Slay by Shelley Freydont
Booneville Retribution by S. Furlong-Bollinger
Mistaken Identity by Patricia Gligor

Katelyn's Killer by John Gordon
Born on the 4th of July by Heather Graham

Tool & Die, Triple Witch; Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves
Red, White and Blueberry Murder by Susan Gillard
Light my Firecracker by Carolyn Gregg
Act Of Darkness by Jane Haddam
Bowled Over by Victoria Hamilton
Yankee Doodle Dead; Dead, White and Blue by Carolyn Hart
Fourth of July Fatality by Kelly Hashway

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson

Past Imperfect by Kathleen Hills
Death of a Cookbook Author by Lee Hollis
The Ghost Who Lied by Bobbie Holmes
The Falls: Fourth of July by George Jackson
Exit Wounds by J. A. Jance
Fourth of July Forgery by Tonya Kappes

The Fourth of July by J.D. Kincaid

Murder Served Neat by Michelle Hillen Klump

4th of July in Sweetwater Country by Clara Knight

A Star-Spangled Mayfair by Kassandra Lamb
A Timely Vision; A Watery Death by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Silence of the Jams by Gayle Leeson
Die Like a Hero by Clyde Linsley
The July Girls by Phoebe Locke

Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey
Dahlias and Death by London Lovett
Death on Nantucket by Francine Mathews
Left Hanging by Patricia McLinn
Star Spangled Murder by Leslie Meier
Cold Hard News by Maureen Milliken

Flag Cake Felonies by Addison Moore
Manic in Christmas River; Mayhem in Christmas River; Mutts & Murder by Meg Muldoon
Bats and Bones Karen Musser Nortman
A Fifth for the 4th of July by Doug Olsen and Julie Gollan
Foal Play by Kathryn O'Sullivan 
Iron Ties by Ann Parker
4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
The Body in the Birches by Katherine Hall Page
4th of July by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

King Suckerman by George P. Pelecanos
Murder is No Picnic by Amy Pershing

Can't Never Tell by Cathy Pickens

Final Resting Place by Jonathan Putnam
Three Woofs for the Dead, White and Plus by Laura Quinn

Dead, White, and Blue by Amy M. Reade

Spilling the Spice by Sheri Richey
Firecrackered by Patricia Rockwell
Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

The Dam Committee by Earl H. Smith
Killing Grounds by Dana Stabenow
And Four to Go ("Fourth of July Picnic") by Rex Stout
Independence Day Plague by Carla Lee Suson
Doggone Dead by Teresa Trent
Prepped for the Kill by A.E. H. Veenman
The 4th of July Can Be MURDER! by Dianne Warth Vereen
Thread and Gone by Lea Wait

A Medium's 4th of July by Chariss K. Walker and Marty Parker

Firework Kisses and Summertime Wishes by Linda West
Independence Day Murder by Linnea West
Kaboom by J.A. Whiting and Nell McCarthy
Some Welcome Home by Sharon Wildwind
Mrs. Morris and the Sorceress by Traci Wilton
Star Spangled Murder by Valerie Wolzien
Happy 4th of July Murder by Rachel Woods

Embarking on Murder by Sue Owens Wright

Short Stories

Rex Stout's "Fourth of July Picnic" in Century of Great Suspense Stories, Edited by Jeff Deaver.
S. Furlong-Bolliger's "Booneville Retribution: 4th of July Mystery Short Story" in Kings River Life.
A Sparrow Falls Fourth of July in A Sparrow Falls Holiday by Donna McLean. 

Children’s and YA Mysteries

Fireworks at the FBI (Capital Mysteries Series #6) by Ron Roy, Timothy Bush (Illustrator)
Murder On The Fourth of July by Carolyn Keene
The Philly Fake by David E. Kelly
Calendar Mysteries: July Jitters by Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney
The Fourth of July Fiasco by Jim McNeal
The Case of the July 4th Jinx by Lewis B. Montgomery and Amy Wummer

True Crime  

Death on the Fourth of July: The Story of a Killing, a Betrayal, and Hate Crime in America by David A. Neiwert

As always, I welcome additions and comments.

Private Eye Writers Of America 2026 Shamus Award Finalists

Private Eye Writers Of America 2026 Shamus Award Finalists

The finalists for 2026 The Private Eye Writers Of America Shamus Awards, for private eye novels and short stories first published in the United States in 2025, have just been announced. The winners will be announced at the 2026 Bouchercon‘s Opening Ceremonies in Calgary, Alberta.

The 2026 Shamus Awards Finalists

BEST PI HARDCOVER

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Photograph by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing)

Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown and Company)

Gray Dawn by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown and Company)

Mirage City by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur Books)

BEST FIRST P.I. NOVEL

Chase Harlem by Elise Burke Brown (Rising Action Publishing)

Miles in Time by Lee Mathew Goldberg (Wise Wolf Books)

Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski (Datura Books)

Shadow of the Eternal Watcher by Josh Mendoza (Inkshares)

The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Minotaur Books)

BEST ORIGINAL PAPERBACK P.I. NOVEL

The Hook and the Eye by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming Publications)

Sunday or the Highway by Cindy Fazzi (Thomas & Mercer)

City Lights by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best Books)

Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber (Titan Books)

Catch Me on a Blue Day by M.E. Proctor (Shotgun Honey Books)

BEST P.I. SHORT STORY

“The Roosevelt Affair” by Adam Meyer (Crimeucopia – Not So Frail Detective Agency, Murderous Ink Press)

“The One Cry” by F.H. Batacan (Accidents Happen, Soho Crime)

“Dr. Bones” by Libby Cudmore (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June)

“Hours on the Phone” by Gregory Fallis (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August)

“The Shadows” by Charles John Harper (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June)

Mapback Monday: Lenore Glen Offord's The Glass Mask

Lenore Glen Offord

I've always enjoyed Lenore Glen Offord's mysteries, maybe because she was local, maybe because I like the writing and the stories. I also love her period settings, although they were contemporary when she wrote them. She was true to her locale and time (WWII and post-war period). I'm glad I have this Dell Mapback in my collection to celebrate Mapback Monday!

The Glass Mask (1944) by , Dell #198 mapback edition, 1947. A Todd McKinnon book.

Lenore Glen Offord was a mystery writer and mystery reviewer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She won an Edgar Award for Outstanding Criticism in 1952. She published 12 novels, 8 of which were mysteries.

Read Rich Rennicks article on Collecting Dell Mapbacks on The New Antiquarian Blog

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GAIL BOWEN: R.I.P.

Sad news. Gail Bowen, Canadian crime writer, passed away this week. She will be missed. 

Gail Bowen whose Joanne Kilbourn mystery series garnished multiple awards and very satisfied readers for more than three decades, died on June 2026 in Regina, Saskatchewan, following a brief battle with cancer. She was 83. Her death was announced on June 26.

Bowen launched the Joanne Kilbourn series with Deadly Appearances in 1990, introducing a widowed mother, political analyst, and university professor who keeps finding herself drawn into criminal investigations across Saskatchewan. The series ran for more than 20 novels, including A Colder Kind of Death, which won the Arthur Ellis Award, and continued into her final years with titles like The Legacy (2023) and The Solitary Friend (2025). Many of the books were adapted as Canadian television movies by Shaftesbury Films, bringing Kilbourn to a national audience.

Beyond the novels, Bowen was a prolific playwright. Several of her works premiered at Regina’s Globe Theatre, among them ‘Dancing in Poppies’ and adaptations of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Peter Pan’, the latter featuring singer-songwriter Fred Penner as Captain Hook in a 2000 production. Her radio work for CBC included an adaptation of ‘Dr. Dolittle’ and ‘The World According to Charlie D.’, a play built around a radio talk-show host from her Kilbourn novels, which later expanded into a series of mystery novellas.

Bowen also gave back to the literary communities that shaped her, serving as writer-in-residence at the Toronto Reference Library, Calgary’s Memorial Park Library, and the Regina Public Library. A member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, she leaves behind a body of work that helped define the Canadian mystery for a generation of readers.

National Typewriter Day: Giant Typewriter

Yesterday was National Typewriter Day. I imagine there are some people out there who have never seen one. Hopefully not too many. So for this holiday, from one of my favorite websites, Retronaut, comes these archival photos of the Giant Typewriter at the World's Fair 1940.

What If? Guest Post by Larry & Rosemary Mild

As authors, all of us resort to brainstorming at one time or another, looking for our next great plot. We unshackle our minds and freely fantasize. One day, delighting in our high-rise view of the Pacific Ocean, we wondered…What if we pursued some of our most ridiculous ideas that gave us a smile and a snicker before we discarded them? 

What if Adam, the first man, had erectile disfunction. Where would the rest of us be? Or not be? Would some other being step up, some master intelligence, and become the top being on Earth? Don’t pooh-pooh too quickly. Some prize-winning authors have already run away with intelligent animals.

What if Eve, the first lady, resisted the evil snake and didn’t partake of the apple of knowledge? Would we still be a bunch of goody-two-feet running around with fig leaves? Why did Adam and Eve wear fig leaves when they were the only ones around? How much does a fig leaf cover, anyway? Were fig leaves plentiful, or were they wash-and-dry reusable? Do you properly wear them stem up or stem down?

What if the Tower of Babel construction was halted mid-height by lack of oxygen instead of language diversity? Would there have been mass unemployment of the workers? Did they receive unemployment compensation? What was the existing portion of the building used for afterward? 

What if Noah cheated on the length of the cubit and built his ark too small? Which animals would he have to leave behind? Would he feel guilty about them? Would he have to build a second ark to accommodate all the animals? Did Noah’s wife nag him about leaving some behind? Did he brood about it every one of the forty days and nights of rain? 

What if Joseph, who wore the snazzy jacket of many colors, was never kidnapped by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt? Who would have built all those pyramids? Would he still be able to predict fourteen years into the future from his dreams? 

What if Moses hadn’t killed the cruel guard with the loose whip? Would he have remained a prince of Egypt and one day become Pharaoh? Would today’s Promised Land be located in Egypt? How much rewriting of the holy books would this cause?   

What if David, the kid with a slingshot, missed Goliath altogether with his last rock? Is that why we are overrun by so many Philistine-types today? Did he at least look around for more rocks? Would Dave be in the market for a sports trainer or did he really need an optometrist for a new pair of glasses? 

What if Daniel of the Lion’s Den fame was actually eaten by the lions? Did the lions get indigestion? Was he tasty or did he need seasoning? Can you blame the lions for disobeying menu orders from Upstairs when they were confined to a den?

What if Solomon couldn’t pass the third-grade intelligence or logic tests? Would he have become king? Would he have become confused when he needed to make decisions? Which of the two women claiming to be the mother would he have awarded the child? 

What if there was only one universal language in the world? How would parents keep secrets from their kids? Would we lose all the idioms, double-meanings, and hard-to-pronounce words? What would we do with all our extra books and videos? What would become of language teachers and translators?     

What if the Messiah actually came, but took one look at the chaos on Planet Earth, turned around, and went home? 
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Not all of our fantasies focus on the biblical domain. What if George Somebody, trying to assemble Junior’s bicycle, grumbled, “I need an extra hand.” And he received one. What would he do with it afterward? Which hand would he use to zip his trousers? 
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Back to reality in our condo as we watch ships enter and leave Honolulu Harbor. What if we unleash our lovable golden retriever and welcome back her owner, our disabled ex-cop-turned-PI? Yes, indeed. We’re writing the sequel to Copper and Goldie, 13 Tails of Mystery and Suspense in Hawaii (2019). Sam Nahoe will continue to hobble on his two canes as he stalks criminals and orders Goldie to chase them down. 

Our newest novel is Kauai Spies and Bald-faced Lies—sequel to Kent & Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance. Check us out at www.magicile.com.